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Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

Bill Franz

Artist of the Week: Julie Riley

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ARTIST OF THE WEEK Julie Riley in her studio at the The Front Street Building Co.. I asked Julie how long she’d been painting.

“I painted a lot in my youth” she told me “but then my life took another direction. I worked with software and with graphics arts. Then about 2 years ago I started painting again. I got this small space at Front Street and now I’m painting almost every day.”

Julie’s painting are in several different styles, but I especially like the birds she has painted. I noticed that several small bird paintings were no longer on her shelf, and I asked about them.

“Those are headed to Finches ALoft in Bellbrook. But first I am getting them photographed so I can make some prints. This parrot behind me is going to Sugarcreek Bird Farm.”

 

 

 

 

 

You can visit Julie’s studio on any of the First Friday or Third Sunday events (1001 East 2nd Street, Building 100, Door BC, 3rd floor). You can follow her art at Julie Riley Art.

 

 

 

 

You can order prints of many of her paintings on her website.

Freak Show Deluxe Founder Thomas Nealeigh

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My friend Thomas Nealeigh – also known as Reverend Tommy Gunn – agrees with me that it’s Great in Dayton. Even though he runs a business based in Los Angeles, he is living in and raising his family in Dayton.

Thomas was executive director of Blue Jacket, the outdoor drama in Xenia, before he moved to Los Angeles. There he built up FreakShow Deluxe, who supplies sideshow acts like fire eaters tovenues across the country.

Once his business was established, Thomas moved back to Dayton so his kids could be near their grandparents and so they could have some of the same Midwestern experiences he had as he was growing up.

“Living in Dayton put us closer to our Eastern customers, too,” Thomas said. “From Dayton, we can get basically anywhere within a day. If we need to go to New York, we can get there in a day and if we need to go to Los Angeles we can get there in a day.”

Thomas will be part of a local performance tonight at 8 pm as Vaudeville Night comes to Centerville’s Town Hall Theater as part of Dayton Historic Dance Week 2018.  Most recently seen on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Gunn has performed from New York’s famed Coney Island, to Hollywood’s famous Magic Castle, and every place in between. With too many tv appearances and big-name venues to list here – this is his ONLY LOCAL APPEARANCE.  Tickets are $15 at the door for this all-ages family friendly show

 

Dayton at Work and Play: Stephen Mackell

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You wouldn’t think that a degree in economics and philosophy would lead to a farming career, but that’s what happened to Stephen Mackell. While he was a student at University of Dayton he volunteered at Mission of Mary Cooperative. Now he’s their Farm Manager. Mission of Mary is a non-profit organization working in East Dayton (619 Silver Lane) on issues of food insecurity.

“Our job is two-fold,” he told me. “First we grow food. Last year we grew 35,000 pounds of fresh produce on six urban farms. Second, we teach our neighbors how to grow their own food. Sometimes they have gardens at their homes, and sometimes they use one of our community gardens.”

“Some of the food we grow is donated to our neighbors who have emergency needs. The rest is sold at farmer’s markets or through farm shares. Neighbors who are having economic difficulties can buy the farm shares at a reduced price, and then get 10 to 15 pounds of vegetables each week from June through November.”

 

Meet Caitlin Cartwright – Social Change Artist

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I first met artist Caitlin Cartwright at Dayton’s Front Street Buildings, on a night when more than three dozen studios and galleries were open to the public.  Caitlin was the featured artist in the Color of Energy Gallery, and her vibrant painting-drawing-collages were creating quite a stir.

Caitlin explained that there was a narrative underlying each of her works, and I asked her to tell me a bit about some of them.

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“Home is an intimate painting I did inspired by spending evenings in my backyard last Summer,” Caitlin explained.  “The silhouetted figure behind the leaves is a symbol of myself, who was still coming to terms with domesticated life in my new home.  There are small gold crickets in this painting that represent the sweetness of this same domestication and remind me of all the hours I listened to their sounds.”

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“Float away is a reaction to my dad’s cancer diagnosis last year.  I use this thin gold chain in a lot of my work as a symbol of a connection that’s precious but delicate.  The birds on the silhouette of the person are also an image I use a lot.  For me they are a symbol of hope and protection.”

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“Monsters is a painting I made when I returned from India.  I was inspired by the strength of many of the women I worked with, able to shield themselves against many obstacles or threats they may face and still grow and thrive.  The painted face was a symbol of self protection.  In reality a layer of paint won’t be able to do much but it’s a comfort and meaningful to the wearer.”

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“Full Stop is about how life can be easily interrupted or change drastically without warning.  I made this painting after moving back to Ohio and the Dayton skyline is what makes up the background.”

Before I left her exhibition I arranged to visit Caitlin in the studio in her home in Dayton’s Belmont neighborhood.

We entered the small bedroom that serves as Caitlin’s studio.  I knew Caitlin had lived and worked in several countries, so before learning about her art process I asked about her travels.

“I grew up in the Dayton suburb of Centerville,” Caitlin told me.  “As my interest in art grew I went to the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati and then to MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art).  After graduation I decided I wanted to experience a culture completely different from my own, and I managed to get a job in Madagascar.”

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“In Madagascar I taught English for a year and in my spare time I did art projects with orphans and street kids.  When I returned to the U.S. I applied to the Peace Corps.  They sent me to Namibia in southwest Africa.  There I helped start a girl’s afterschool club.  One of our projects was gathering recycled materials to make baskets to sell.”

“When I returned to the U.S. I knew I wanted to pursue an advanced degree but I had trouble deciding on the field.  I loved the community building I had done on my overseas trips but I also loved making my art.  I felt torn between those two passions.  I eventually decided to get a master’s degree in Sustainable International Development.   Working on that degree put things into focus for me.  I realized that if I used my art to build communities everything I loved fit together.  There was no conflict.”

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“A project I did as I worked on my masters degree was fascinating.   I lived in Ahmedabad, India for four months documenting artisan’s stories.  I went to their homes, sat with them and their families, and then photographed, filmed and wrote their stories.  I put this information on a website that was available to anyone interested in buying their products.”

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“Living and working in all of these places has been great for me as a visual artist   All of the sights I’ve seen have been added to my visual vocabulary.   You can see Madagascar in the piece I am just starting here.”

“For the last two years I have been the Education and Operations Manager of the Preble County Art Association.  Now I see Preble County images are starting to work their way into my art.”

“I started this piece with a number of sketches.  I usually do a combination of drawing and collage and paint, and the elements of the piece typically change a lot as I work.   As I add and change elements I think about how each part of the piece contributes to the narrative.  I want my art to work on two levels.  I want it to be visually attractive and I want it to tell a story.”

With that, I left and let Caitlin return to working on her latest story.

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Making A Difference in Dayton: Officer Dyan Thomas

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When I heard that some Dayton police officers were armed with stuffed animals I had to know more.

I called Officer Dyan Thomas. In 2009 she became the first female assigned to patrol duties as a Dayton police motorcycle officer. Dyan rode up to me, dismounted, opened one of her saddlebags and pulled out her stuffed bunny


“I am a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church” Dyan explained. “The church asked what they could do to support the Dayton police and we came up with the idea of stuffed animals. They donated lots of stuffed animals, and then others did the same. There are now enough for every police motorcycle and cruiser.”

“Imagine any type of incident involving a family with a young child – things like a traffic accident or a domestic dispute of some kind. The adults are upset, which causes the child to be upset and even to cry, which causes the adults to be even more upset. When the police officer hands a stuffed animal to a child, the child is distracted. The child stops crying and focuses on the new toy. That relaxes the adults, and everything settles down.”

I think Dayton is lucky to have Officer Dyan Thomas on the job.

 

Elsass Art Sale This Thursday To Benefit 4 Local Charities

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Mike Elsass has started his outdoor painting season in a lot next to The Front Street Building Co., but when I caught up with him all he wanted to talk about was last year’s outdoor painting.


“Last year I painted once a week in the parking lot of the Life Enrichment Center,” Mike told me. “They are a faith-based organization that helps all kinds of people in this area. The building is at 425 Findlay Street, next to a large metal recycling center, which seemed like the right place for an artist like me who paints on weathered steel.”

“A group going through a sobriety program painted with me. They were working to reclaim their lives, so I tried to use as many reclaimed materials in the art as possible – like used sandpaper and steel shavings. Then I invited others to join us. We had civic leaders, other artists, and even my grandchildren grab a brush and make art that now hangs in the LEC conference room.”

“Some of that art will be on display, and for sale on May 10 at Infiniti of Dayton (299 Loop Road) from 5 to 8 pm. The money raised goes to LEC and three other great local organizations – Good Shepherd Ministries, United Rehabilitation Services and the Therapeutic Riding Institute.”

Mike told me he’s planning a larger effort at LEC this year. If you have any paint you don’t need, he’d love to have it. You could drop it off at the Life Enrichment Center parking lot any week day between 9 and 5. Just leave it by the yellow truck behind the building. If that doesn’t work, just message Mike’s facebook page and he’ll arrange a way to get it.

Artist of the Week: Jeremy Long

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I visited Jeremy Long in his studio in the Creative Arts Center at Wright State University.

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As I entered, I saw that Jeremy was working on a small painting of his wife, artist Colleen Kelsey.

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I asked about two photos placed on the wall to the left of his painting of Colleen, where Jeremy could see them as he painted.  “Those photos show details of a piece by the 18th century painter Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin,” Jeremy told me.  “He was able to create remarkably life-like textures in his paintings.   I like to look at his work as I paint just to remind myself of what is possible if I get everything right.”

I noticed another painting of Jeremy’s wife on the floor.

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“That painting is how I managed to first get to know my wife,” Jeremy explained.  “We were both at the Chautauqua School of Art that summer.  I asked her to pose for me, and after a few sittings we started to date.  I never did finish that piece, but Colleen and our children appear in most of my large works.”

I knew that Jeremy was best known for his large paintings (typically 6 foot by 8 foot) which include members of his family.   I asked how long these works take.  In place of a direct answer Jeremy suggested I look at the painting below as he walked me through some of the steps.

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Jeremy told me he started painting on a smaller canvas, possibly 3 feet by 4 feet like this one.  First he paints something abstract, in this case just three bands of color.  Then he adds complexity to the abstract work.   Next he tries adding figures in various configurations in ways that fit his original abstract design.  He also tries out various ways of getting the viewer to look intently at the piece, like the way one of the arms he has drawn on the left might belong to either of two figures.   He changes all or part of the composition many times, until this small canvas has numerous layers of paint and Jeremy has a design to use on the large canvas.

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Painting the large canvas is also time consuming because Jeremy does indirect painting.  That is, he builds the final image by painting several layers of paint, one over another.  The upper layers modify, but don’t completely conceal, the lower layers.

A poster I saw in Jeremy’s office came from a show he recently had at the Bowery Gallery in New York.  The poster featured one of Jeremy’s large paintings.

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I told Jeremy that I thought he had only one son, but the painting showed two young boys.  “I added a son for compositional purposes,” he explained.

Jeremy said a retired gentleman came to the Bowery Gallery show because he was drawn (as I was) to the painting on the poster.  The man had never purchased any art before, but he bought Jeremy’s painting and found a space to hang the 6 foot by 8 foot piece in his small New York apartment.  The man lives alone, but now he shares his small space with a wonderful work of art and with an image of Jeremy’s family.  Somehow that makes all of the time Jeremy put into that painting worthwhile.

I asked Jeremy to pose for a quick portrait.

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Then I left and Jeremy returned to the painting of his wife.

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More Mural Art in Progress

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A group of volunteers from Synchrony Financial work on a new downtown mural under the supervision of Brittini Brill Long. Brittini is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Montgomery County Juvenile Court who facilitates the HAALO program. The mural is on Stone Street, near the Neon Movies. HAALO people will be doing the bulk of the painting this summer, with help from artists from K12 Gallery and TEJAS. HAALO stands for Helping Adolescents Achieve Long-Term Objectives.

Brittini showed me the design for this block long mural. The original idea, from artist Morris T. Howard, would have used only two panels on this long concrete wall. But that original idea has grown, and the mural will now fill all of the block’s 21 panels. The mural is called The Land of Funk, and will incorporate designs from several Dayton artists. I’ll be sure to share more photos as the project continues.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Shelly Massey

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Shelly Massey Art in her Front Street studio.

Dayton at Work and Play:

Before moving to Dayton, Shelly taught at large art retreats around the country including Art is You in California and Connecticut, Artfest in Washington, Art Unraveled in Arizona and Art & Soul in Nevada. She said she was a little surprised by the popularity of her teaching but also a little worn out from the travel. For now she’s not teaching anywhere, only painting in her new Front Street studio (door BC, 2nd floor).

A great side effect of Shelly’s teaching has been the connections she’s made with people all over the country who love art. She recently visited one of those friends in Milwaukee and took a lot of art with her. Shelly’s friend arranged an exhibition where people could see and buy Shelly’s art.

As I visited Shelly she painted several pieces at once, sometimes with a brush but mostly with her fingers. Her hands got more and more colorful as time passed. I’ve got to return to her studio late in the day sometime to photograph her hands with all of the day’s colors.

You can see Shelly’s work at May’s First Friday celebration, or message her on her facebook page and arrange another time to visit her studio.

Almost Time To Hit The Water

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Yesterday was cold and dreary. But I know that spring is almost here because Whitewater Warehouse (104 Valley Street) has opened for the season. I stopped by and talked with owners Jeryl Yantis and Bernie Farley (in photo).

Dayton owes these two people a lot. They were the original champions, way back in 1996, for Dayton’s river run features downtown. They sold the idea to Five Rivers MetroParks, who then got Montgomery County. the city of Dayton, the RTA and the Miami Conservancy District on board. I asked Bernie what he thought about the river run that came about 20 years after he first had the idea.

“I think it’s great” he told me. “It took a long time, but at least I’m still around and still healthy enough to enjoy it. They did a great job on it, and it’s drawn a lot of people to this area.”

“We try to promote all of Dayton’s outdoor activities. The various activities all work together. The area has a wonderful network of bike paths, a lot of which are next to the water. Bikers enjoy seeing people using the water and some of them get into those water sports.”

Bernie told me he plans to rent kayaks downtown during some of the festivals this summer.

Meet Artist Francis Schanberger

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ARTIST OF THE WEEK Francis Schanberger at his home in the South Park Historic District.

Francis teaches photography at UD and he has an exhibition at the Dutoit Gallery (Front Street Warehouse, Building 100, Door BC) opening Friday. The exhibition, titled “Nothing Can Go Wrong,” also features his wife Bridgette Bogle.

Francis has an interest in historic photographic processes. When I asked if his pieces for his upcoming show would be made using historic processes he walked to a shelf with several older cameras and picked one up.

“This is a replica of a Diana camera (a camera developed in the 1960’s with a plastic lens) that I used for most of my photos in this show. I had a problem with film being scratched so I had to make some modifications to the camera. I also added an extension tube so I could take close-up photos.”

“The photos I took with this camera are close-ups of parts of my skin. I took the photos here in my dining room when my twins were napping. They were taken using only natural light, with long exposures. Then in the dark room I used a solarisation technique that was popular in the 1970’s.”

The photo above shows Francis with an anthotype, a photographic process that dates back to the 1800’s. Dyes made from some plants are sensitive to light, and an anthotype uses that sensitivity to create an image. Here Francis has coated paper with two different dyes, one made from the petals of a neighbor’s red tulips and another from a neighbor’s purple irises.

“This piece of clothing attached to the paper was worn by my daughter when she was 3 months old” Francis told me. “The finished anthotype will show the outline of her clothing. I have exhibited many of my anthotypes, and I may show this one, but because of the sentimental value it will probably be marked Not For Sale.”

Flash Fiction- Novelist Challenged to Create Story From Photo

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I told novelist Molly Duncan Campbell about one of my favorite books.

In 1953 photographer Roy DeCarava took amazing photos of the people of Harlem, but he couldn’t get them published. He gave some of the photos to Langston Hughes, without telling him anything about the people in his photographs. Hughes wrote a story to go with the photos, and got “The Sweet Flypaper of Life” published.

Inspired, Molly asked me to send her a photo, and tell her nothing about the person. Then she wrote the following:

My name is Juniper Mary May. I am called Junie. I am the only person in the world who gets called by my whole name all the time. Junie May. When I started kindergarten, they kept saying, “Junie May who?” Like I didn’t remember my last name. I am in First grade now, and Mrs. Hapner did it again! I felt like telling her what the hell ask Miss Franklin it took her all last year to figure this out. I have asked my mom why on earth she named me this. I would prefer to be named a normal thing, like Kathleen. Then everyone would know to stop after just the Kathleen part.

I got this hula hoop for my fifth birthday. I could only jump rope before. Here is what you do: you grab it hard and lift it over your head and lean it against your belly button, and then you wiggle like hell. My mom said I shouldn’t say that. So I wiggle like the devil is after me, which is what Nana says, and that isn’t swearing. I got the dress with the goofy swan on it from Nana. She lives in the past. Mom said it reminds her of a poodle skirt, which makes absolutely no sense, because who has ever heard of a poodle skirt?

I have gotten really good on the hula hooping. I can go for exactly one minute and seventeen seconds. That is my record. I can also roller skate, but you can’t do that inside. So I hula all the time in my room, and I made a playlist. I put Stevie Wonder on it. All the songs from Cars. Yellow Submarine. And my most favorite of all, but my mom says it’s an ear worm: Mahna Mahna by the Muppets.

You might think that I am a girly-girl. That is because we took this picture to send to Nana in Cleveland. We put it in the cloud so she could look at it on her phone. Usually I wear jeans and my favorite tee shirts. I have two favorites: one has Bill Nye, the Science Guy on it. The other one has a wolf. And guess what? I have a pussy hat!

 

Meet Artisit Mikee Huber

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Mikee Huber of Mikee.arts.photography in her showroom / studio at Crane Studios Market (221 Crane Street).

Mikee’s abstracts have these beautiful swirling colors and are different than anything else I have seen. I asked her how long she’s been making these unique pieces.

“I am a graphic designer at Wright-Patt Air Force Base, and in my free time I am an avid hiker. About one and a half years ago I broke my foot. I couldn’t hike, so I poured my energy into painting. I worked with lots of different types of paint and lots of different techniques for about a year until I came up with this.”

I asked where people could see her work.

“Well I sell quite a bit right here in this studio. I also have pieces at The Blue Note Bistro and Lounge in Miamisburg, at the Edward A. Dixon Gallery in downtown Dayton, at a special members’ show at Springfield Museum of Art (Ohio) and at King’s Daughters’ Hospital in Madison, Indiana. Online, I was just invited to apply to be in the most recent exhibition of Apero Gallery.”

Super Bowl Footballs Made in Ohio

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The footballs used in the Super Bowl have the names of the two competing teams, so they couldn’t be made until late yesterday. A work crew showed up at the Wilson factory in Ada, Ohio during halftime of the second game. They had some pizza and made a little TV party out of it. Then when the game was over and they knew who would be in the Super Bowl they started making footballs.

They worked all night, until five or six this morning when a new crew came in. By the end of today they will overnight 100 footballs to the Philadelphia Eagles and another 100 to the New England Patriots.

The N.F.L. is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States. World Series baseballs come from a factory in Costa Rica. Basketballs in the N.B.A. finals first bounced on the floors of factories in China.

Wilson football factory, Ada, Ohio

Tours conducted by factory employees, ready to answer your football manufacturing questions can be booked in advance by calling 419-634-9901 for $5/adult.

217 N. Liberty St., Ada, OH
Directions:
From Hwy 235/N. Main St., turn east at the stoplight onto E. Highland Ave. Drive three blocks. You’ll see the parking lot for the little factory on the right.

The Merry Makover For The Rikes Holiday Windows

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The Rike’s Department Store displays are in the Schuster Center’s Wintergarden through Jan 4.

The windows date back to 1943 when NCR put five scenes from “A Christmas Carol” in the windows of its New York offices. They were moved to Rike’s Department store in Dayton at Second and Main in 1945. That site is now home to the Schuster Center.

Now, every year from the day after Thanksgiving until the turn of the new year, you can visit them in the Schuster Center Wintergarden.  After January 4, the windows need to be refurbished

The setup, teardown, and visits by more than 8,000 people every year have taken their toll.

The goal is to raise $63,000 to replace the current boxes, purchase an additional one for recently donated elves, and refresh the holiday décor.

If you’d like to contribute to keeping these windows a part of Dayton’s holiday celebration go to https://victoriatheatre.com/support/how-to-give/ read about “The Merry Makeover.”

Meet The 2017 American Humane Service Dog of the Year

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I met a celebrity this week – Centerville’s Atlas the Wonderdog. He was named the 2017 American Humane Service Dog of the Year in an awards ceremony in New York several weeks ago.

Atlas’s owner, Marine veteran Kenny Bass, served in Iraq and suffers from PTSD. For years, doctors tried to treat his condition with lots of drugs. He was eventually taking 8 different prescriptions totaling 33 pills a day, and still felt lost. Then he was rescued by Atlas.

When Kenny got a prescription for a service dog from his doctor at the VA he was told that the VA didn’t supply dogs. Kenny needed to find one on his own. He was surprised to learn that he either needed to pay between $10,000 and $60,000 for a dog or get on a 2 year waiting list. He spent $15,000 to buy Atlas and then was given just three days of training before he took the dog home. The first few months were difficult, but he and Atlas eventually learned how to work together. 

As Kenny saw the benefits that Atlas brought to his life he decided to do what he could to help other vets get service dogs. He founded Battle Buddy, a nonprofit organization that gives service dogs to veterans. The dogs are also trained by veterans with the specific needs of their future owner in mind. Then the new owners are given a lot more support than Kenny had as he learned how to work with Atlas.

I’ve offered to take photos at some of the organization’s fundraisers, so you’ll probably be seeing more photos of Atlas the Wonderdog.